


How to Court Your Best Friend's Son

by pondghost



Series: How to Court Your Best Friend's Son [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Courting Rituals, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Tony Stark, Other, Parent Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, bc i dont like writing omegas being treated less than human ill feel weird, lots of mentions of bucky wanting to punch people, steve raised tony and tony is 22 surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-08 14:58:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15932786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pondghost/pseuds/pondghost
Summary: Bucky Barnes had done a lot wrong in his life, but the worst thing he'd ever done was fall for his best friend'somega son. The only issue was that Tony was already in a relationship and after a rough break up, Bucky would have to wait before making his move. That's if Steve didn't kill him first though.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i've been wanting to write an a/b/o story for a while because i just really like pack dynamics. this is supposed to be more of a cute and short story but i have longer ones planned too. i have a winged au with baby peter and then a longer a/b/o story again with dad steve and son tony, it's just more serious vibing. i don't know if anyone would be interested in them
> 
> sorry for mistakes, i dont have a beta

James Buchanan Barnes had done a lot wrong in his life, he'd admit it (but he wouldn't admit most of it wasn't his fault, as much as people told him it wasn’t like he meant to get nabbed by Hydra and become their murder muppet). He wasn't always the kindest alpha around Brooklyn growing up -- probably hounded everyone on the block too much and picked too many fights for his own good. Not to mention how bad he was with the Avengers when he first got saved, he stabbed Clint the first night staying at the tower. But, by far, the absolute worst thing he'd ever done was fall head over heels for his best friend’s _son_.

Well, his best friend’s very _adopted_ son, but it's not like that mattered. Howard and Maria Stark were both confirmed dead after a Hydra raid in their own home. The saving grace of the situation was that a seven-year-old Tony was out with his uncle-now-dad Steve and the way the pecking order fell, Steve got custody of the omega. It was for the better really, Howard was rumored to have not been the most gentle of parents and It wasn’t too long after their deaths that it got out that Howard was physically abusive to his wife and son. It complicated his relationship with Tony at first, but the two had grown close quickly. They were also quite lucky that the soldier had been pulled from the ice ten years prior lest that Obadiah Stane got custody of Tony. Now that was a man Bucky wouldn't mind beating the shit out of, he was a murderer, backward idealist, and a rotten businessman. If it were up to him, he would have had him buried six feet under instead of living in some fancy prison cell. Tony probably wouldn't have gotten to live his life the way he deserved with that dick.

Probably wouldn't have gone to MIT and used that beautiful brain to kick everyone's ass.

Probably wouldn't have built the Iron Man armor and allowed Bucky to see him kicking even more ass.

Probably wouldn't have ever seen Tony’s honey warm eyes up close, never ran his fingers through the omega’s oily hair after a workshop binge. He'd miss out on that charming personality with edges sharp enough to cut.

Or Tony’s witty banter.

Sparring together and rolling around on the mats.

Sleeping together in the lab to ward off nightmares of Hydra and Afghanistan.

Working together on the field, being a precise battle unit.

Watching Tony take down any sexist assholes, sometimes allowing Bucky to punch the unlucky bastards in the face.

Playing card games and eating sweets that he'd stashed away just for their late nights.

When Tony had turned twenty-two last month Bucky snuck more fresh pizza and cake into his room after everyone had gone to bed in the late hours of the morning. The two had snuggled up in some makeshift pillow nest and watched crappy shark movies until passing out. The best part of it all was when Tony started mumbling incoherent nonsense, demanding 'cuddles' and saying those things he kept locked away. God, Bucky wanted to live like that every night.

“--And then he disappears for over two weeks and comes back with a boyfriend! I mean I don't think, I, Bucky are you even listening!” Steve repeated for the fourth time that night, this time in the common room just to shake things up a little. Bucky painfully sighed and put down his book. “Maybe I should call him,” he reached for his phone, Bucky rolling his eyes and catching the other’s wrist before he could grab it.

Truth be told, he didn’t like Tony out on a date much either. In a perfect world, his reasoning would be because Tony was _Steve’s omega son_ , that he wasn’t that good of a fighter, he didn’t have his armor case with him, basically anything that wasn’t Bucky was jealous of Tony’s boyfriend. Not actually jealous of him, more so of how he got to spend time with the genius is an intimate way. “Coulda always had someone tail em’ out there.” He offered, shoulders hunching in agitation as if to say that _he_ should have been out there.

“No, you remember how mad he got when he found out Clint was following him and Ty all night! That was awful, Buck. He’s my kid, he has to know he can trust me not to send someone after him. After Howard … I just, I wanna be the father he deserves.” Bucky nodded his head. Almost a year ago when he’d been rescued from Hydra, Steve had explained how much of the world had changed, their old friend Howard included.  “Am I worrying too much? I mean, s’ not even midnight…”

“Okay, how about this. You go upstairs and watch Gilmore Girls to calm down or somethin’ and I’ll wait down here, so I don’t have to listen to you ramble anymore! I might go batshit if I have to hear another peep outta ya’! You know Tony is fine and he’ll just get mad if you start fussing.”

“I … you’re right. Tony’s a good kid. Thanks, Buck, but you’ll--”

“Still call you if he’s hurt for whatever reason you’re makin’ up in your head.” He ushered Steve to the elevator and pressed the buttons for him. “I’ll wait up for Tony, promise.”

 

 

  
Midnight passed quickly and the clock was nearing one by the time Bucky glanced at it again. He had known unless he ignored it completely he wouldn’t stop fuming about Tony’s date, but maybe the time was getting a bit ridiculous. The omega had a habit of staying out late, but he also never had a boyfriend before either. 

“Thanks, Ty, but you didn’t have to walk me all the way to the door.”

Well, that got him up. Slowly, as to not make any noise, he turned off the television and quickly padded over to the front door. Bucky knew he could hear clearly from the couch, but there wasn’t anything wrong with wanting to be closer.

Within possible attack distance.

Maybe he should go back to therapy.

“Oh, but I did. How else am I supposed to get a romantic goodnight kiss,” Tony’s date cut in. They were close enough that Bucky could smell them now, a calming omega scent being overpowered by whatever alpha cologne Tyberius had practically bathed in.

Someone shuffled their feet, probably Tony. “That’s what I wanted to talk about,” a sigh, “I think we need to end this.”

Bucky stopped breathing. He wasn’t too sure why.

“What--”

“I want to break up.”

While he couldn’t see what was happening on the other side of the door, the soldier imagined Tyberius wasn’t too happy with the news and while he wanted to go outside to grab Tony, he didn’t. He deserved to handle this on his own.

“No,” there was a thump against the door, “I don’t think you get how this works.”

“Hey--” Tony said back. Bucky would have waited had it not been for the smallest bit of trepidation in his tone. He trusted the omega to handle this, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t offer a hand. So, he opened the door and let Tony’s body stumble back into his chest before tugging him to his side. He kept his face neutral and held back the growl already in his throat, the genius apparently noticed his minute frustration and ran a hand over Bucky's metallic one to help keep him at ease.

“Can I help you with something?” Bucky couldn't help but growl out despite his best attempts to keep calm. He never much appreciated anyone who didn't take no for an answer. That was probably why Steve and he got into at least half the fights they did.

The soldier didn’t know Ty at all, but Tony was dating him, so he had to be smart in some sense. “Yeah, me and my omega were talking about something.”

Or maybe not.

Bucky and Tony shared a look, the genius pulling back to fold his arms, clearly unimpressed. “See what I was dealing with?”

“Yeah, want me to take out the trash?”

Tony hummed and looked over his ex-boyfriend’s face again. “Yeah, I’m gonna go tell dad I’m home so he stops shitting bricks.”

Bucky nodded and cut Tyberious off as he was saying something about how Tony can't just walk away from him.

“So, you gonna leave or am I gonna have to make you?”

“You can’t make me do anything.”

It was getting increasingly hard not to throw a punch. The smaller alpha looked almost ready to bolt in the door after Tony, but Bucky would probably kill him before that happened. 

“You do know who we are right?”

A pause and the other raised his hands in a sign of defeat and turned. “Fine. But I’ll be back,” he turned pointedly at Bucky. “Jackass.”

Bucky just sighed and slammed the door right as Steve started shouting incoherently from his room.

It was going to be a long night. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm basically writing this between a bunch of big stories: a winged au, weird hydra fucks with the timeline au, and another steve is tony's dad au (all winteriron). i blame the gaps i have between my classes.

“So … why’d ya’ break it off? Besides the general asshole part.” Bucky asked. Tony and he were laid side by side on his bedroom floor, a holographic game of ping pong going on above them as they passed the ball with a gentle wave of their hands. “I mean, not to pry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna. I might just be lookin’ for a reason to punch somebody.”

“I don’t really care.” Tony leisurely flicked the ball back to Bucky who let it fly past his fingertips. “Ty and I. Well, we were friends when Howard was around. But when Steve adopted me, he didn’t want me hanging around that crowd too much and I can't blame him for that. Hell, I should thank him! Anyway, We met again at some party down in Malibu and it seemed romantic at the time, y’know? Long lost lovers or some shit.”

“That why you ditched out on us?”

“Nah, was dealing with some other shit, _other shit_ just happened to be there too.”

“The fuck was _other shit_?”

“Honestly? The arc reactor slowly killing me.”

“What!” Bucky shot up, glaring down at the omega. “You left to go _die!_ Why didn’t you tell us -- oh my god -- are you still dying! Ton--”

“Hey, hey,” he followed Bucky, grabbing his shoulders with a small smile. “I fixed the problem, I’m totally fine now. Arguably better, just took a little encouragement.”

“Tones,” the soldier pulled him in for a hug, “you’re the worst. You weren’t even gonna tell us.” He felt Tony chuckle against him. “Don’t laugh!”

“Sorry, but I’m fine now, promise. A new element here, some band-aids there! And I’m good!”

“Oh god -- you’re gonna have to tell Steve.”

“I haven’t even told you!”

“Yeah, cause I’m gonna need a drink or somethin’ first. You got any booze hiding up in here?”

“Sorry, but casa de Tony is straight out of alcohol -- sobriety ain’t that rocking.” Tony reached up to grab a can of soda from their junk food pile on the table and tossed it at him. The two had made laziness an art at that point. “And if I have to suffer, so do you. Now sit on the sofa and pet my hair and I’ll spin yer’ a yarn!”

Bucky feigned a sigh, catching the can before climbing on the couch with a pat to his thigh. “M’kay, but you’re not allowed to leave out any details, Mister _pet my hair and tell me I’m pretty._ ”

“Nonsense.” Tony snuggled up to him, “I never need anybody to tell me what I already know.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now spill.” It was probably for the best that he was running his hand through the omega’s hair. He had a feeling this story wasn’t going to sit well with him and he needed something to ground himself. Granted, depending on how this all went, he might be making some visits tomorrow. Tony was far from _his,_  but he still felt the need to beat the snot out of anybody who took their liberties with him. That's probably how Steve felt. He was pretty sure if the man walked in on them like this, Bucky would get his ass handed to him.

“Uhg, fine. I needed my full lab back at the Malibu house to fix the old ticker, but I couldn’t. So I just gave up. I started throwing these sweet parties and it all got bad enough that Rhodey came over and we fought, super badly fought. I think I still have bruises? Anyway, I paid the media off and all that good stuff and was kicked back into commission, I made something replace the pallidum that was formerly in the reactor. The shit poisoning me. Howard actually helped, he had some old notes stored away and I able to synthesize a new element down in the basement. Works like a charm, better power output too, it’ll be a lot more efficient for powering the suits; it allows me to make smaller reactors with greater output, wait, but that’s later. So anyway, I thought to celebrate, I’d go wreck someone else’s house for a change and it just so happened that Hammer has a standing open invitation to me.”

“You went to Hammer’s house just to trash it? Why the hell does he got an invitation for you? You two kinda hate each other.”

"Hammer Sr. thinks I'd be a suitable mate and wants his dumbass kid to keep his options open. I'm a real catch, Frostbite. Now, hush. That was the party I ran into Ty at and after all that time, I really thought I liked him or something. We went back to my place that night and,” he stopped when Bucky starting pulling on his hair a little too tightly. “Ow?”

“Sorry!” Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“It’s fine, I get it. But you can ask JARVIS, absolutely nothing happened. It was actually really nice, we talked all night and then just fell asleep on the couch, I’ve never dated an alpha like that before, so I thought he was … I dunno. Special or something. So we dated, kind of like my _I-Didn’t-Die_ reward. He lived down in Cali and no one’s needed me or Iron Man in a while, so I figured why the hell not stay? God -- Bucky -- it was so good for a while. Ty took me on all these dates, the best restaurants and the best clubs, paid for everything too. A week into it in and we hadn’t really done anything yet, I mean we kissed and stuff, but I kinda got out of the horny teenage phase a few years ago. Wait, is this getting too personal? I know I don’t have any shame, but your beautiful and sensitive ears might fall off.”

“No shame here, doll.”

“Cool. Right. So, a few days ago I figured I’d throw him a bone because he was just being so nice, we kinda, uh… were on the couch … and stuff. But he took things somewhere I didn’t want to and didn’t stop when I asked, which is really just a mood killer. I pushed him off though and he apologized, all sweet about it too, so I forgave him.”

“First mistake.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’ll punch him.”

“You’ll kill him.”

“Maybe I wanna.”

“That’s a little harsh,” Tony countered as he wiggled a blanket over himself, Bucky grabbing it to help pull it up all the way. It was hard to be angry when Tony was curled up in his lap about to pass out. A yawn escaped the omega and Bucky could have sworn his heart cracked in two. Yeah, he was completely fucked.

“So is sexual assault.”

“Hey -- shhh, it wasn’t that.”

“You told him to stop and he didn’t. Sexual assault.” How was that not reasonable?

“It wasn’t like that. Don’t you wanna hear the rest?”

“After that, not too much. But anything for you.”

“That’s what I thought. A day passes and Ty comes back to my place, a plushie Iron Man doll and a bunch of chocolates and that just got me so weak--”

“Your standards are absurdly low.”

“Well. They’re a little higher now, in my defense. Okay, shut up! This is how it ends. Ty comes inside, we kiss and he knows I don’t wanna do that whole ‘let’s get our grind on and come in our pants’ thing again, so we’re just making out. A little. And he goes for my neck’s no-no-zone.”

“He what!”

“Hey! Cool it,” Bucky’s legs had jolted so hard that Tony had nearly rolled off the sofa, barely catching himself on the soldier’s knee. “Soon as I found him sniffing around my gland, I socked him a new one. What kinda asshole tries to mate with you on date five and a half! And then he went off saying how we could build this giant technological empire together as if I would ever merge Stark Industries with anything, let alone Viastone. He wasn't too pissed about it which was weird, he just said I was overreacting to normal shit, but I totally knew I wasn't. After Obie it takes a helluva lot more than some sweet talk to manipulate me."

"Apparently not that _much_ more."

"Dick. I wanted to break it off then and there, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the bald bastard, isn’t that stupid? The last time I pissed someone off alone, they pulled the arc reactor straight out of my chest and I really just didn’t wanna do that again. Totally not fun. So, to avoid an irrational fear of attempted murder, we came back here. And you know the rest.”

“Sounds like you had a busy month.”

“Truly the worst.”

“You deserve better than him.”

“Maybe,” Tony yawned. “Live and learn.”

Silence.

He let his gaze fall back on the omega in his lap who was rightfully asleep. “That was quick,” Bucky muttered to no one in particular. No wonder Steve had a fit. He doubted Tony had told him the whole story (hell, even Bucky knew he was missing some details), but he could be glad Tony told him what he did. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i met a cool girl at swing dancing but now i have to watch the entirety of camp camp. anyway i might post the first chapter of my winged au tomorrow if i can finish writing out chp. 8 tonight

“Nat,” the soldier acknowledged as he entered the kitchen. Everyone was using one of their rare off days to get more rest, but Natasha was still at the counter with a cup of over-sugared tea as she poked around on her phone. “Ya' know where Tony is?” Because he had woken up on an empty couch and was _slightly_ worried. It wasn't impossible to get by Bucky while he slept, just very difficult. That combined with a known Tony who never gave up his Cuddle Sessions for anything short of an alien invasion had him thinking too much.

“Steve took him out, I believe they needed space.” She didn’t bother looking up. “But I suppose you know that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were in his suite all night. Are you telling me that does that  _not_  mean anything?” This time she looked up with a quirked brow and Bucky felt pinned in his place by the fridge. The other alpha was scarily good at that shit. Bucky supposed he was safe for now though, she hadn't accused him of defiling her 'baby' yet. Not to mention Steve didn't kill him in his sleep or anything, so he was still probably in the safe zone. 

But, she  _knew_  and Natasha Romanoff having that knowledge was a dangerous game. 

“Just 'cause I spent the night doesn’t mean nothing, we do it all the time. He just needed to vent about shitty exes and stuff. I shouldn’t tell you though, s’ not my place and he'd probably kick my ass.”

“He ditched us to play  _hooky?_ ”

“Yeah. I think he knew we wouldn’t like his boyfriend so he hid.”

“That is fair, I do not appreciate people harming Tony. I might have done something bad. I still might.”

“I feel the same way, god--”

“That includes you, Barnes.”

“Oh.”

“Only  _you_  develop a crush on your best friend’s kid.”

This. This accusation did not surprise him.

“Saying it like that makes me sound like a dirty old perv…”

Nat shrugged, moving to drop her cup into the sink. “If I thought you a dirty old perv, you would be dead or in a very deep hole somewhere. It is not as bad as you make it out to be. Steve has had over twenty years to catch up with the world and its people. You, you have not. In many ways, you are still very much like the man before the war.”

“I dunno ‘bout that.”

“A man with more scars, but still the same man, nonetheless. A good man. Just be smart.” She left a lingering hand on his shoulder before leaving the kitchen. Bucky (now slightly scared for his safety) looked at his phone, he should probably just text Tony to ease his fears.

_**Bucky Barnes:**   you alive?_

_**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**   should be  
_ _**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  srry abt last night. Dad said he wanted 2 go out and u looked so cute sleepin i couldnt wake u_

_**Bucky Barnes:**  It’s fine. Was kind of confused but that’s all. how much did you tell Ssteve_

_**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  enough that he wanted some “father son bonding time” i mentioned the whole dying thing and he cried. I think_  _i messed up_

 _ **Bucky Barnes:**  he’s not mad at you. He's mad at himself for not knowing anything was wrong. Youre his omega kid he just wants to protect you.  
__**Bucky Barnes:**  You know. Dad Instincts.  
_**Bucky Barnes:**   _Theyre real_

_**Tony “shell head” Stark:**  and stupid. Theres nthng he coulda done 4 me. Its not like he can make a new element or anything wut could he have done_

_**Bucky Barnes:**  Been there for you._

_**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  dumb. stupid. preposterous.  
_ _**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  should i mention ty_

_**Bucky Barnes:**  why wouldnt you?_

_**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  ‘dad instincts’_

_**Bucky Barnes:**  just do it._

_**Tony “shell-head” Stark:**  fne. have pizza and off brand cola when i get home. will need_

 

“Yay, pizza!” Tony almost tackled Bucky upon entering the room (he was very lucky that the alpha was as enhanced as he was). “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

"Yeah and I'm sure it's got nothing to do with my Avenging day job." 

Steve cleared his throat from the doorway, not phasing Tony’s koala-like position around Bucky in the slightest. “I need to borrow Bucky for a bit, if you don't mind.”

“I do mind, do I at least get a consolation Clint?”

“Outta town.”

“No fun.” 

“Probably won’t be,” Bucky said as he dropped the omega unceremoniously onto the couch. Tony feigned a whimper and chucked a pillow to the brunette who just swatted it back at him. "Don't take your Clint withdrawals out on me!"

Steve just groaned and dragged his friend into the elevator and as soon as the two soldiers were inside Steve collapsed against the wall. “You--”

“You mad?”

“A little. I just. He told me he told you and that you were there with Ty and I just … you didn’t tell me.”

“It wasn’t my place to say anything,” he replied, coolly stepping through the doors and into Steve’s suite. “He had a choice not to say nothing.”

“He was in danger! You told me if anything happened when he got home you would tell me!” Steve was all but shouting now, one hand pointing at his friend and the other gripping the countertop with a rock crushing grip. “And you didn’t!”

“He wasn’t in  _danger_  danger, as soon as I heard something I stopped the situation and sent that fuck away.”

“But you didn’t--”

“Didn’t get you, I know. But what was I supposed to do? Tony was already headin’ up to your place when I was kicking the guy out. I figured he told you at least something by the way you were shouting.”

“He didn’t tell me anything, I was shouting cause  _my kid_  up and disappeared then came back smellin’ like some nasty alpha. I was angry and scared, okay. He just doesn’t vanish anymore, not since Afghanistan. The only thing that kept me from going down there was JARVIS ensuring me he was alive and okay. Clearly, the okay part was a lie. I just wanna keep him safe and I don't know how, is that really so bad?”

“You're fine, Steve.”

“Am I overreacting?”

“Not at all and in case you haven’t noticed -- Tony is one of the most eligible and pretty omegas on the market right now. Lotta jerks would go after him, you have the right to feel paranoid.”

“I feel like I’m being overprotective.”

“You trusted him enough to go to California without a word, I think you’re good. Plus, he kinda likes it. The whole pack being there for him.”

“He does?”

“Yeah. Don’t tell em’ I said this or anything, but Howard, y’know -- not a pack mentality guy. Tony spent a lotta time alone growing up and having an actual family that cares and is there for him, it means the world to him.”  Which was all true. Clint picked on Tony a lot, but if anyone outside the team did, there’s a good chance there would be an arrow in them. Natasha was the same way, except she apparently knew Bucky had feelings for him and that wasn’t going to do him any favors. Bruce and the Hulk were both equally terrifying when it came to ensuring Tony’s well being, both on and off the field. Arguably, Tony needed more help in daily life rather than battle. He ate far less than he should, rarely tended to his wounds and had a tendency to isolate himself instead of confronting his problems. “Even if he’s the shrimpy omega. And Thor gets to have a redo of the big-brother situation, s’ a win-win thing.”

“Feels a lot less shrimpy in that armor.”

“Yeah. He’s more like some fucked up barracuda then.”

“Thanks, Buck ... and please don't call me kid a fucked up barracuda.”

“Anytime, Stevie. You wanna join our pizza party?”

“I’m good, wouldn’t want to intrude or anything, you two have fun. Tony could use a distraction.”

"If you say so,"  Bucky waved a hand in turn, but he could have sworn Steve's stare was boring into the back of his head as he scrambled out the door. "Night, Steve."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this 2 days after my surgery and refused to let anyone proof read it. that being said it is not any worse than my normal writing

A month passed of fairly the same routine, Tony was trying his best to make sure Natasha never found out who Ty was (even though he had a feeling he had failed in that regard) and spent a majority of his time down in the lab. Ty and Tony were lucky that she had been away on a mission at the time of the incident, Tony might have hated his ex, but he really didn't want to deal with any rumors and speculation if Ty did turn up murdered one day. But with Nat’s absence came Clint and Thor’s return, both demanding explanations on Tony’s disappearance. Shockingly, they weren’t too happy either. And that was with leaving out some of the details.

“He dared to lay a hand on my SHIELD brother! The … asshole. I am sorry I could not have been there, Tony.”

“It’s all good, big guy. And can you chill, Clint?” The first thing the archer had done was march right up to Tony and wrapped him in a bear-hug, muttering how stupid he was for a few solid minutes before letting him go. He should have been used to it, but having a pack care for him was still an odd feeling.  “Alpha posturing is gross.”

“I don’t see you complaining when Barnes does it,” Clint grumbled back, arms folding over as he leaned against the wall. Honestly? Tony wouldn’t mind it at all if Bucky stepped up his alpha game. Tony normally wouldn’t say he was attracted to such nonsense, but such nonsense looked great on Bucky. He had honestly felt weak in the knees the first time he heard Bucky growl over him.

 

And the second.

 

And the third.

 

But it wasn’t like that was because he liked Tony or anything, just some pack mentality. No different than the reaction Thor was currently having as he gripped his hammer a little too tightly.

“Bucky-bear does not posture.”

“Bucky-bear doesn’t what?” Speak of the devil, in all their sweaty workout gear, the two alpha soldiers appeared in the doorway -- clearly having finished some workout.

“Posture for Tones.” Clint chirped.

“And I’m leaving,” Tony grabbed his jacket and was oh-so-close to the door before Steve stepped in front of him.

“You didn’t tell me you were going out.”

“I am now.”

“Where?”

“Rhodey’s in town. I’m gonna pick him up at the airport and then check in with Pepper at her office. I might not own Stark Industries anymore, but I am still the brains behind the products and need to check in sometimes.”

“I know. I just-”

“Bye, Steve.”

  
  


The trio could never really say they had leisure days, it was more like brief leisure breaks. Yes, Rhodey could visit, but it was often for work and the time he spent with his friends were his off hours. Pepper usually made herself available for Tony, but more often than not, they were still meeting at the office as she preferred to go home and promptly pass out. Their lack of time together hadn’t really driven them apart though. Apparently while at MIT, Tony and Rhodey had formed an unbreakable friendship between their constant projects and night outs. They had a good system (though Tony would prefer it not had been a problem in the first place), if anyone ever got too handsy with Tony then Rhodey would be there with the overprotective alpha or stupid boyfriend card. Which honestly worked pretty well considering none of them had an interest in dating anybody.  The whole school was probably confused by if they were actually dating or not, even his dad was for a while.

Pepper came into his life a month after Howard and Maria were murdered, Stane had hired her as a personal assistant, but she was passed over to Tony because he clearly needed someone to hold his life together more. It was crazy how close two people could become after losing your whole family and pouring out everything you kept bottled up. Wow. How the hell did Pepper stay with him?

A sigh and he turned over to Rhodey. “I think Bucky wants to kill you, but that’s normal for him.” Tony was laid across the top of Pepper’s desk as she took to the sofa and Rhodey sat in her oversized and flamboyant ‘CEO Chair’ occasionally spinning himself around. “The killing part, not the killing you specifically part.” He nodded back at the alpha in the chair. “Your fault, you were trying to kill me first.”

“Was not! Man -- why’d you tell him I kicked your ass?”

“It just slipped out okay, I feel bad when I lie to Bucky -- you know I’m hitting on him!”

“Hitting would imply you’re actually making moves, Tony.” Pepper threw a crumpled up sticky note at him. “Right now you’re just stewing. Badly stewing.”

“Yeah and it’s bumming me out, I need someone to shovel talk and Pepper is currently dating her business.”

“And it’s a very serious relationship,” she added.

“See what I mean!” Rhodey grabbed the piece of paper from Tony’s stomach and started drawing on it.

“I can’t make an actual move on him, dad would kill me!” Which was totally true. Asking his dad’s best friend on a date was just too wrong. Natasha had tried explaining it to him before -- that there really wasn’t that much of an age difference between them when you accounted for most of Bucky’s life being under Hydra’s control. The Winter Soldier had been there a helluva lot longer than Bucky Barnes. And while that seemed reasonable, it just wasn’t enough. Tony (and apparently Nat) didn’t see an issue with it, but there was no telling how anyone else (i.e Steve) would react.

In an attempt to suppress his feelings, he had tried dating Ty, but god knows how that turned out and he was back to square one. Tyberius had turned out to be some knot-head-dick-face and Tony was left still fawning over an assassin.

“I think he’d kill Bucky first, you’re his baby omega.”

“The whole pack would kill Bucky! My life sucks.”

“Why? I thought they all got along?” Pepper asked. Rhodey and Tony shared a look with each other, while the beta knew everything there was about them, she lacked some personal time with the Avengers.

“Captain Rogers is a little … protective of Tony, less so now than when he was younger though.”

“Yeah! God, one time I took Rhodey home for break and dad almost lost it. He’d heard rumors about us dating and he thought I took home my boyfriend unannounced, he was pissed. Took Rhodey-bear outside to give em’ a good old-fashioned talking to before I even got to explain we were just friends. And even then he was still suspicious!”

“In his defense, I really was the first alpha you let into your life.”

“Not my fault I hadn’t met any tolerable ones yet.”

"That's sexist!"

“Like I was saying, the man is pretty lenient with Tones now, but the team is a different story. They adopted him as the baby omega of the pack pretty much. You ever been stared down by two assassins and a god before, Pep? It’s so not cool. I’m there trying to maintain my cool and collected composure and they’re all thinking up ways to hide my body! Stop laughing, you dick!”

“You were sweating so badly, no part of you was cool!”

“In my head I was.”

“And in my head, I’m in a healthy and stable relationship with tall, dark, and brooding.”

“And you could be dating already out of your head if you two idiots talked about it!” The beta chimed in. “All of you … so stupid.”

“Pepper--”

“If you don’t go ask him out already, I swear I will for you! And I know you don’t want that.”

“I’d stop you before you got out the door!”

“I’d tie you down to the table.”

“Kinky.”

“And leave you there for Bucky?”

“Well, ma--”

“Ew - don’t say that.” Rhodey, apparently giving up on his drawing, crumpled the paper back up and chucked it at Pepper’s head. “You don’t actually want those two getting it on … on your desk, right?”

She shrugged.

“Nasty beta.”

“Stupid alpha.”

“What am I ?”

“Shrimpy omega," Pepper chided, "Now unless you plan on helping me finish my work, get out of my office." 


End file.
